When it comes to marketing, you want immediate results (and we certainly don’t blame you for wanting that!), so you start to find ways to promote your business and get more people to see your message. The good old marketing campaign gets going with things like print ads, radio, direct mail, tv and maybe even digital marketing! Which means people are going to start looking you up and lots and lots of people will be seeing your website.
While that’s great… some planning and thought has to go into what happens once those people visit the website. Because it is very possible that if you don’t, you can waste all those advertising dollars! In some cases, it even hurts your brand.
Your website could very easily be a prospect’s first impression of your business. The performance, message and graphics of your website all determine whether that visitor to your website will leave or take action and become a sale or a lead.
How many times have you clicked on a Google search listing only to discover a less than awesome webpage? You thought you were finally getting the answer to all of the world’s problems, but you couldn’t even locate the page containing the solution or product you were looking for (and the images were broken to boot!), so you bounce; onto the next thing!
Here at Rock Paper Simple, we do more than just build the typical website. You’re awesome at what you do. You deserve a website just as awesome. Here are five signs (there are so many more, but we are busy building websites, so can’t list them all) you should invest in a new website.
It Doesn’t Look Good
Again, your website may be your customer’s first impression of your company… and how does that first impression look to them? Think about how you want your office or your staff to present to your customers and prospects… does your website present just as well?
The branding and message should be consistent , the site should be easy to navigate and the imagery should reflect back on your brand and speak to your target audience. The most important content should be easily found and visitors shouldn’t have to pull out their magnifying glass to read copy.
If your website doesn’t look good… it’s time to rock the visuals and get an upgrade that will impress your visitors.
It Doesn’t Accomplish Your Marketing Goals
If your current site is not generating leads, creating conversions, conquering galaxies (this one is important!) and accelerating engagement, it’s time for a redesign. A plan for results, integrated lead capture methods, a crisp design, and fast load times are just a few of the ways we at Rock Paper Simple kick your business into overdrive. There’s no reason why your website shouldn’t be making you money and rocking the web like it should.
Your Site Isn’t Responsive
If your website isn’t responsive, it is likely you are missing out on mobile traffic! You know when you pull up a website on your Smartphone that doesn’t fit your screen’s size or looks broken…we’ve all been there.
A responsive website provides the user an optimal viewing and experience by adapting to fit the user’s screen size. This flexibility allows the site to be fully legible and functional on any device, eliminating the need for a mobile version of your site and allowing you to convert those mobile visitors.
We were working on a large campaign that involved thousands of dollars a month to drive traffic to a landing page for a local firm that was receiving a huge percentage of their traffic via mobile and in our debriefing meeting we were reviewing their website and one of our team members made the comment that the button that allowed the user to register did not work on mobile (it went to a black screen!). The client wasn’t too concerned until our team pulled up the analytics on the big screen and over 70% of the traffic was coming from mobile! Ouch! That means that the campaign, which was actually deemed successful, could have been 70% more effective!
In this case, we did not build the landing page and it cost the campaign 70% because the site did not work on mobile. Make sure yours does!
Your Site Is Inconsistent With Your Brand
Perhaps you have an offline medium advertising your business, which happens to be your customer’s first impression of your brand. Their interest is peaked, so they get online, type in the URL, and they immediately think they have the wrong website. Why is that?
When a website doesn’t match a company’s branding, the consumer doesn’t make the connection. We see this time and time again, and the missing ingredient is consistency. The colors, tone, and imagery should be the same on your website as it is in your print ads, online ads, and marketing collateral. Consistent, strategic branding leads to strong brand equity.
We love projects where we get to work with a brand and bring consistency across all of their platforms… from their website to their social media to their print and advertising.
When your brand is consistent, prospects and customers recognize that brand more often and you will build more trust with them.
You Have Old Website Content
You may think the copy you wrote five years ago doesn’t need to be changed, but that is the furthest thing from the truth. There are very few companies that can get away with leaving the same content on their “about us” section or “services” page for five years.
Content on your website should be updated frequently and should be them-centric (focused on your user, your prospect). Your content should be relatable and void of industry jargon that is unfamiliar to your target client. Plus, Google notices when your site is updated, and if your site hasn’t been updated in a while, Google notices that too and places you deeper and deeper in the search results affecting your SEO. This is one of the many facets in SEO that affects your rankings and is easily another blog by itself.
That’s a wrap!
So whether you’re looking to build a website or redesign your website, our team at Rock Paper Simple would be happy to have a complimentary 30-minute consultation with you. Click here to book yours today.
